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But that's the thing. WinZip isn't freeware. Try IZarc if you want something that really is freeware.

Re: a winzip / xp zip handler alternative -- I recommend izarc --> http://www.izarc.org/

It has a less convoluted interface than 7Zip though it is not OSS, I believe it is free for commercial use

Then use TUGZip, IZArc, PeaZip, Filzip, ZipGenuis or a dozen other free compression utilities. I'm sure one of them will be to your liking.

I have personally used TUGZip and IZArc for years and think they are both fantastic pieces of software. I have been meaning to also give PeaZip a try, but haven't gotten around to it yet.

Who needs WinRAR when you have 7-Zip?

And for those of us who want an alternative to 7-zip with a user-interface that doesn't make you want to gouge your eyes out with spoons, then there is IZArc.

(free in beer, not speech - but I don't really care)

I've become a big fan of the GOM media player. Not only is it lightweight, but it's a lot smarter about dealing with codecs than any other player. Even plays Real formats.

I used to like the VLC player, but it seems to have gotten buggy over the years. Locks up, screws up my system so I have to reboot, and always seems to get video colors wrong.

Though it's hardly the most powerful graphics program, Irfanview is the only one I use about 99% of the time. It's simple, as does all the basic graphic file manipulation. Doesn't do serious editing, but it's nice to be able to easily browse a directory, convert formats, or crop a photo, without waiting for GIMP or Photoshop to finish loading.

IZArc probably doesn't rate as "lightweight", since it has an absurd number of features. (Reads every archive format I know of, including RPM and ISO!) But it's a classic of "just works" software design. And what is lightweight is the program's elegant user interface and Windows shell integration.

Actually no. I remember a time long ago when there was tons of free software out there you could trust. I'm not talking about the open-source stuff (which I generally still trust when it's from SF.net or freshmeat), but demos, freeware utilities, shareware games, freeware episodes, etc.

There was a ton of free stuff out there without spyware, adware, or malware of any sort. Yes, you could get free screensavers (though many sucked). You could get free games (though most were demos). Nowadays, I see lots of things that look useful, but I just can't trust them to be *safe*.

There still is some safe free (non-os) software out there though, such as:

Skype talk to other computers, call phones in N. America for free?! Would you have trusted it
Screensavers and more Screensavers
Compression utilities

and more

The problem is that unless you have a lot of references on the software (and sometimes even then) you just can't trust them to be clean nowadays. The above are some ones that I do trust, but it's sad that I have to second-guess most things that seem free nowadays because there are too many scams and pieces of crapware out there.

Galactic Civilizations II, Transcendence, and Future Pinball are all that come up off the top of my head at the moment. For the latter, you'll want to pick up tables at VP-Originals. A ton of other games can be found at places like Abandonia Reloaded.

Also, Stardock offers the Object Desktop suite if you want to make Windows XP look less... XP-y.

* Crimson Editor An amazingly powerful freeware text / script editor.

  * uTorrent Is there an open source Torrent Client in under 200k? Does it have RSS searching, bandwidth scheduling, automatic resume, and trackerless support? Yes? Oh, good then.

  * As -U- Type. Spell check anywhere. It's a great piece of software, if you can get over the fact that the author barely speaks any english.

  * 3 Plane Soft Screensavers. Ok, they're screensavers. And they're a rip off. But damn they're nice.

  * Trillian. 'nuff said.

  * The Bat! The second best mail client created, behind only KMail.

  * IZarc If there were need for zip clients anymore, this would be the one to have. Also handles about 50 other file standards, integrates really well with explorer, is small and efficient, and did I mention free? Best unzipper out there, including the pay options.

  * Folder Size Shows you how big your folders are. If explorer were made by Apple, it would do this by default.

  * True Crypt Data so secure even it doesn't know if there is more to be found in a file.

  * Thumbs Plus Arguably there are a lot of good applications in this space, and there are ones out there with better interfaces. But it is the only thumbnail application I've ever used that can handle upwards of 20,000 files in a single directory. If you take lots of pictures, this is the one.

  * DVD Decrypter Recently bought out by Macrovision to shut down it's decryptey goodness, DVD Decrypter is really a no-nonsense, no-fuss DVD ripper and burner. Want to rip a movie from a DVD so you can watch it later? One button. Want to rip it back to a DVD? Another button.

  * Microsoft Power Toys Nifty stuff from people who both hate and make the operating system.

And remember to use an antivirus, a firewall, and two anti-spyware suites. My personal favorites are AVG Antivirus, Kerio Personal Firewall, Spybot, and Ad Aware.

Another nice free one is IZarc which can handle some of the non-windows format (tar, gzip, etc) in addition to most of the windows ones (zip, ace, rar, etc)

http://www.izarc.org/

and

http://www.tugzip.com/

Here's some good freeware ones:

There's more out there, but really, I can't see how Winzip is as relevant today as it was during the Win3.x days when it was the only good zip GUI out there. I guess scheduling is nice, but then again, all operating systems come with a schedular these days anyway.

My favorite window archiving tool: http://www.izarc.org/

I guess 7-zip is popular too. Regardless, Winzip is yesterday's news.